Electrical connectors have been widely applied as a means to easily connect and disconnect electrical circuits. Among various types of such connectors, there are so-called double-lock connectors having double locks to insure that contacts remain in a predetermined proper position in a connector housing.
Illustrated in FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of one example of such a double-lock connector, more specifically an electrical connector for an air bag to be connected to an automobile air bag control circuit.
An electrical contact 25' is inserted from the left hand side into a contact-receiving passageway 13' in a dielectric housing 11' of an electrical connector 10'. As the contact is being inserted, an engaging plate 28' of the contact 25' first lifts a resilient housing lance 14' as shown by the phantom lines before returning it to a normal position as shown by the solid lines, thereby engaging the contact 25' as a first lock to secure the contact 25' in the housing. However, the contact 25' may be removed if it is pulled strongly to the left. In order to prevent the contact from being removed, a locking member 20' having a projection 21' is inserted into the housing with projection 21' being positioned in space 15', thereby preventing the resilient housing lance 14' from lifting up and thus further securing the contact as a second lock in passageway 13'.
It is to be noted here that the engaging plate 28' holds the resilient housing lance at an elevated condition as shown by the phantom lines in FIG. 6 if the contact 25' is improperly inserted. Under such a condition, the gap of the space 15' is too narrow to insert the projection 21' into the space 15'. The tip 21a' of the projection 21' engages the tip 14a' of the resilient housing lance, thereby preventing the complete insertion of the locking member 20' into housing 11. This condition of the contact 25' may not be detected by the operator.
This construction permits the confirmation of the complete insertion of the locking member 20' in the housing only from the right hand side in the drawing. However, in a certain circumstance, it is difficult to confirm from the right hand side, thereby providing the need for a mechanism to easily confirm whether the locking member 20' is completely inserted or not in the housing.